Dare to Jump
by CamsthiSky
Summary: "Do you think I can make that jump?" with Dick and Tim


"Come on, Tim," Dick grunted, adjusting Tim as he started to surrender more and weight to Dick. "Come on, I need you stay awake. We still need to get out of here."

"Where're we?" Tim murmured, his head lolling onto Dick's shoulder in a way that suggested that Tim was losing the fight with consciousness. Not good. Dick was already losing too much blood, and he didn't know if he could carry Tim all the way out.

"What do you remember?" Dick asked as he checked another corridor for signs of life. Nothing. He wasn't sure if that was a good or bad sign, but for now, he was going to keep going until they ran into trouble (because let's face it—Dick and Tim weren't going to get out of here easily). He pulled Tim around the corner and made for the next stairwell.

Only one more floor to go before they hit the roof entrance. Tim had said that there would only be one guard posted there, and even with a shot to the shoulder, Dick should be able to take them out if he surprised them.

"I...remember patrol," Tim told him. "And I remember running into those ninjas. Is that where we are? Did we get captured by ninjas?"

"Yes," Dick said before peeking into the stairwell and checking the area. It was clear. "Yes, we were captured by ninjas. We broke out, though. Bruce is on the roof of the building next to us, and he's going to get us out of here."

Not actually true. Bruce _was_ there, but he had no idea Dick and Tim were in the building he was staking out. At least, he shouldn't. Tim and Dick had gotten caught unawares (drugged) in that alleyway three hours ago, and it was only about two in the morning now. As they were brought in from a few underground tunnels, Bruce wouldn't be looking for them anytime soon, and since Oracle wasn't on comms tonight, he probably wouldn't know they were gone until someone else reported them missing.

Just make it to the roof, Dick thought to himself. Make it to the roof and Bruce would know that they were there.

Tim's brow creased in contemplation as Dick dragged him up the stairs, grimacing at both how much strain it was putting on his arms and how hard Tim's brain was working even with a head injury.

"What's wrong?" Dick gasped as he pulled Tim up the final set of stairs. Just one door, and one guard outside, and they'd be home free. When Tim didn't answer, Dick jostled his brother lightly. "Hey, you still with me?"

"Yeah," Tim said quietly. "It's coming back to me, now, but…I'm wonderin' what the ninja want with us."

Yeah, Tim had wondered that before, too. Before the lead ninja guy had knocked his head against a wall and shot Dick for trying to break free (they'd tried a couple of times, but this was the only time they'd succeeded).

Now, though, Dick didn't actually care. Bruce would probably know, and maybe he'd ask Bruce when they got out of this situation, but Dick just wanted to focus on staying alive long enough to get over to the other building.

Dick let out a breathy sigh. "I'm not sure. But let's worry about that later, okay?"

Tim nodded. "Okay."

"Alright," Dick said, his voice serious enough to hold even concussed-Tim's attention. "So, there's a guard on the other side of this door—" (Thank you Tim, the only one who ever actually read Bruce's case files when they weren't relevant to anything else he was doing) "—and I'm going to take him out, but I need you to stay here and wait until I come back for you."

Tim nodded again, a serious glint in his eyes, and it would have convinced Dick that Tim was totally fine if it weren't for the blood dribbling down his neck from behind his ear. "I will," Tim told him.

"And stay awake."

"Got it."

"I'll be right back."

Even concussed, Tim managed to roll his eyes and look exasperated. "Go, Dick." Dick tried not to wince at the name, but they _were_ still in costume, in an _enemy base_. "I promise I'll stay."

Dick nodded as he set Tim against the wall, an uneasy churning to his stomach, but he really had no choice. He wasn't going to be able to drag Tim outside _and_ fight the guard. So instead, he braced himself, cursing the fact that the ninjas had taken his ecrisma sticks and Tim's utility belts, and he pushed open the door.

The guard whirled around the moment the door opened, but Dick was on him in a blink, stepping forward and catching the guard in the jaw, before he pinched a nerve in the guy's neck and sent him sprawling into unconsciousness. The door automatically swung shut behind him.

Out of breath, and thankful no one else was on the rooftop, Dick let himself rest his hands on his knees. He just needed a few seconds to gather himself before he went back to get Tim. His shoulder—his whole arm really—was on fire, and he wondered why'd he'd used his right hand for that swing when he should have used the left. Stupid move, and he'd probably just lost the ability to use it much more for the time being.

Once his breathing was somewhat back to normal, Dick spun back around and pulled open the door.

"You still with me?" he called out as he propped the door open and headed into the stairwell.

Tim was standing up now, though he looked a bit wobbly. He blinked rapidly, but he didn't seem as foggy as he had before. "I'm good. You get him?"

Dick nodded. "I got him. You ready to get out of here."

"Definitely."

Taking Tim's arm, Dick lead his little brother out onto the rooftop, kicking the door shut behind them. It was only after a few seconds of searching that Dick realized that Tim must have somehow gotten his information wrong or there had been something more urgent to attend to, because—

"Where's Bruce?" Tim asked, squinting at the rooftops surrounding them. The two building closest to them was just a little shorter, but the other rooftops stood around the same height, and Dick couldn't believe that Bruce wasn't on top of one of them right now. He should have seen Dick take out that guard, and he should have come to help.

But he wasn't here. They were alone. No Bruce in sight.

"I don't know," Dick said, feeling a bit numb.

"Soooo, what do we do now?" Tim wondered, and he looked a little annoyed that his brain wasn't racing fast enough to get them out of here, but Dick didn't blame him.

"Same plan," Dick decided, pushing away how stupid he felt about thinking things would go exactly as planned. Keep going. Things weren't going to get better if he just stood here feeling sorry for himself. He needed to improvise, and fast. Who knew when the ninjas were going to realize that Tim and Dick had slipped away. "We get to the next rooftop."

Tim looked uneasy as Dick led him towards the edge, and Dick didn't blame him. They were at least fifteen stories up, and there was quite a bit of distance between rooftops. They also didn't have any equipment with them, so they'd be doing this by running and leaping. Not the most surefire way, but they only way they had.

"Dick, I don't know about this," Tim said. "Do you think I can make that jump?"

Dick wet his lips. "Maybe," he said. "But I'm going to help you."

"How?" Tim asked, bewildered.

"I'm going to throw you."

Tim stared at him, his arm tightening around Dick's neck. "Are you serious? That's more than ten feet, and you're hurt."

"And you can't run," Dick shot back. "I can throw you over there, but you need to make sure you catch yourself."

"Dick—"

"We don't have time for this," Dick said, shaking off Tim's arm and gathering him up. Tim didn't protest again, though he looked about ready to faint as he curled up tight (physics, Dick's brain told him). Dick hoped he didn't because he really needed to catch himself on the rooftop before he hurt something else.

Dick took a deep breath, pushed down the unbidden images in his head that told him exactly what Tim would look like if he missed, spun a few times, and released Tim the moment he felt he had enough momentum. Tim soared through the air, a perfect arc, and crashed down on the other rooftop, rolling a few times to break his fall.

Dick would have sighed in relief if he wasn't so focused on the burning in his arm. He'd put all of his strength into that throw, and Tim was safely on the other roof, if a bit dazed, and Dick should have been fine. But he wasn't. His hand hovered over his shoulder and he tried to keep his breaths even.

The pain subsided after a few minutes of just breathing, and Dick finally felt like he could uncurl himself from the ball of pain he'd accidentally made himself into. He looked up and stared over at Tim.

"You good?" he called.

Tim nodded, but his lips were thin. He looked a little foggy again, and Dick hoped he hadn't made his concussion worse. "I'm fine. Can you make it?"

Instead of answering, Dick backed up, sprinted forward, his arms pumping and _burning_ , and leaped from the roof, his feet just barely hitting the edge of the other rooftop. He rolled a few times and, when he stopped, he lied on his back and just tried to breathe through the pain.

"Dick?" Tim whispered from next to him. "Dick, we need to go. I think they know we escaped."

Voices drifted over from the other rooftop, confirming Tim's words. Dick and Tim looked at each other a moment and then Dick was scrambling to his feet as quietly as he could, ignoring the burning in his arm, pulling Tim' arm around his neck, and scrambling to the other side of the roof where the fire escape was.

They climbed down as quietly as they could, Dick still breathing harshly, and they made it to the streets without opposition. It was only once they hit the alley that Dick slumped against the wall.

"I…I don't think I can run anymore," Dick admitted. He was light-headed and his arm was pulsing with pain, and honestly, Tim didn't look much better. "But they're going to check the streets once they realize we're not in the building anymore."

"So we need to run." Tim grimaced.

"Or we use the car," a new voice growled, and Dick and Tim both froze.

Dick knew that voice and he didn't think he had ever been happier to hear in his life. He turned them both around and faced deeper into the alleyway, where the voice was coming from the shadows.

"Bruce," Tim breathed more than said, but Batman still caught it.

"Names," Batman reprimanded, and he stepped forward so they could see him somewhat. To Dick's utter relief, the Batmobile was parked right behind him. Dick wanted to cry. "Now, let's talk about why the building I was supposed to stake out is in utter chaos on the way back to the Cave."

"Yes," Dick said, hurrying Tim into the back seat, before buckling himself into the passenger seat. Batman followed at a slower pace. "A thousand times yes. Drive."

"Hold on."

And then they were speeding through the streets of Gotham at 90 miles per hour, and Dick honestly felt himself relax for the first time since he'd woken up in the ninja's clutches.


End file.
